Jack D. Summerfield, 79, WGBH Manager
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Jack D. Summerfield, 79. Communications Professor, writer, and loving father.
During his career, Summerfield managed radio and TV stations (WGBH, WRVR, and KPBS), won numerous national awards including the Peabody, volunteered in the Peace Corps and passionately taught college students.
He is survived by his children Edward Ford, Jenna Lynn, and Jacki Mariani; and grandchilren Haley Marie and Madison Claire. His humor and generosity will be missed by all.
Donations in his memory may be made to NYIT Jack D. Summerfield Memorial Award, NYIT Office of Development, Northern Boulevard, P.O. Box 8000, Old Westbury, NY 11568
Took me a long time to find this page, just searched for more info. on Jack Summerfield, one of my absolute favorite and cherished professors when I attended NYIT Old Westbury in L.I. and graduated with a B.F.A. in Communication Arts and Sciences in 1992. I took several Communications, Journalism and Communications/Media Law classes with Jack, and he was a total gem of a professor, an unbelievably sweet, super intelligent and delightful guy, with a wickedly dry sense of humor, and he was also my direct student advisor for a year or two. I still make sure I keep up-to-date publishing and media law tomes at home due to my occasional still-career as a freelance nonfiction critic, essayist and writer in the literary, music and film arenas. I had no idea till now that he’d managed WGBH Boston! I wish I had known all that when I was taking his classes. I learned so much from Mr. Summerfield I cannot even possibly relate it here. He shall be greatly missed.
In addition to the survivors and attributes mentioned in the obit, he had been an associate professor of communications at New York Institute of Technology in Westbury, NY, and a member of their board of trustees. I believe he had been married at least twice.